Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal
by Liza Lupin
Summary: Lily Anderson, HP fan, has had odd dreams her whole life... which lead her to find that the Wizarding World is real and her 'dead' Uncle Sev isn't as dead as she thought. CURRENTLY UNDER REVISION.
1. Sirius Dreams

**Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal**

by Liza Lupin

Disclaimer:I am not JK Rowling. I do notownHarry Potter and Co.I don't own anyone but Lily and Spook!

EDIT: Revised June 21, 2005

**

* * *

Chapter One: Sirius Dreams**

It was a windy, rainy June afternoon in New York City. The sun was obscured by the dark storm clouds hanging gloomily overhead. The rain pelted down from the sky, saturating anyone unfortunate enough to be outside in a matter of seconds. The wind cruelly directed raindrops into any available opening in between layers of clothing, sending water down the back of a short redhead's neck as she tried to pry open the door to her apartment without dropping her groceries. So it was a sopping wet and somewhat irritated Lily Anderson that stepped through the threshold into her small, two-room apartment and dumped her car keys and the results of her low-budget shopping trip onto the kitchen counter.

"If there's anyone listening up there," she said, glaring up through the ceiling and the clouds she knew were beyond, "I would really appreciate some sunshine!" She sighed as a loud clap of thunder rumbled overhead. "All right, I can take a hint," she muttered. As it was June, the rain was a welcome reprieve from the summer heat. Unfortunately, it had been raining for going on four days now, and enough was enough. Lily was ready for the sunshine again, even if would mean really awful humidity after all the rain. Shrugging philosophically, Lily pushed her wet auburn hair over her shoulders and began putting the groceries away.

Nineteen-year-old Lily was petite for her age, but seemed much larger because of her very outgoing and aggressive personality. She wasn't conventionally pretty, with her rather large nose, but her features fit her face. She had owlish, expressive eyes that shifted from a flirty medium gray to furious glittering onyx, and had wavy hair that was dark red when it wasn't soaked to black, reaching down to her waist.A meow from her feet turned her attention to her roommate: a solid white kitten except for a black spot on the crown of his head. She reached down and scooped him up, pulling a can of cat food out of one of the grocery bags. She opened the can and set cat and food down by the fridge, out of the way.

"How was your day, Spook?" she asked the kitten, putting the milk in the refrigerator. "Mine was okay – Toni came in and we had lunch at this great Italian place. About a million people were in the store today, but we got a new load of paperbacks today..."

She continued talking to the kitten, chattering about her day as she shelved the groceries. When they had both finished their respective activities, they wandered into Lily's bedroom to catch the weather forecast. Lily was happy to learn the rain would clear up in a day or so, and began humming to herself as she gathered up her pajamas and headed to the shower. She fell asleep quickly to the sound of Spook's purring.

_Dream Sequence_

Lily smiled happily as she recognized the familiar blank grayness and roiling smoke of her favorite dream. She had always had odd dreams of this place, since before she could remember. She had found early in her life that, if she wanted it enough, she could do or have just about anything she could imagine in these dreams. It was her place to relax, and get away from the pressures of reality for as long as she needed - time meant nothing here. Scrunching her nose up and closing her eyes in concentration, Lily worked her will.

Cautiously peeping open one eye and then the other, she realized she had succeeded. Lily smiled widely as she saw her new dream environment. She was now in the Great Hall at Hogwarts, surrounded by ancient stone and tapestries depicting the four Hogwarts houses. Oddly enough, it was a little different than she had imagined. Even encircled by the castle's majesty, she just looked briefly at everything before wishing up a big, overstuffed leather recliner in place of the Head Table. Lily settled in and closed her eyes again.

Lily silently concentrated on the person she wanted to bring into her dream. She built up a mental picture of him - hair just _so_, and with that slightly shaggy look, and blue eyes with that tell-tale hint of shadow... So intent was she on imagining every aspect of his personality she could imagine, she missed the very quiet 'poof' noise he made when he arrived.

"Who are you!" The startled question broke Lily out of her reverie. The nineteen-year-old's eyes shot open and she grinned mischievously. He had the fierce look borne of bravado, and managed to keep his confusion out of everything but his eyes.

"I'm Lily Anderson. Nice to meet you, Padfoot," she calmly replied. She stuck out her hand for him to shake. "Just sit down," she said, wishing into existence another armchair before continuing, "and listen for a second, okay? I'm going to explain some things to you, because Harry had some problems with this, too." Sirius Black's cobalt blue eyes now showed more than a hint of confusion as he gingerly sat in the other chair, but she plowed on anyway. "This is a dream. I am dreaming, and you are my subconscious representation of the character Sirius Black in the Harry Potter series written by J.K. Rowling," Lily stared at Sirius, not bothering to hide it as she looked him up and down, checking him out. "Any questions, Mr.-"

* * *

"BLACK!" yelled a plump woman with flyaway red hair. Sirius started awake, sitting straight up, and stared around the room. Why on earth was he in his mother's room (or more recently Buckbeak's), and what was that weird taste? He seemed to recall being worried about something... and what had happened to Lily? "What _is_ the matter? I've had Harry and Ron trying to wake you for the past ten minutes! Why on earth did you fall asleep up here?" Sirius looked around confusedly, trying to remember why he was laying down on a dusty bed covered in hippogriff feathers... 

He smiled slightly at Harry and Ron standing in the doorway, Harry with a concerned look on his face, and Ron with a rather unconcerned one.

"Molly, is Dumbledore coming for dinner tonight?" Sirius asked as he regained his composure and plucked downy feathers out of his shaggy black hair (and one out of his mouth... _'That explains the taste,' _he thought). Mrs. Weasley nodded, and looked at the convict with grudging concern.

"Are you sure you're quite all right?" she asked one last time. He nodded slowly, and she walked to the door. "Very well then. Come along downstairs. Supper's ready." She bustled her way off down the hall, dragging the two boys and leaving Sirius to ponder his odd dream.

* * *

"Bla. . . Now where did he get off to?" said Lily, smile fading as she saw Sirius just poof away. She scowled, muttering obscenities under her breath, before she saw a small golden thread originating in a golden tangle of more threads in Sirius's last location and seemingly heading off through the castle walls. 

Lily stepped forward and curiously touched the tip of her index finger to the thread. There was a nauseating tugging sensation behind her navel, and suddenly she was speeding away, being yanked through a swirling mass of colors bleeding and blending together.

She came to a stop in a musty old room with a huge... thing in it.

Lily promptly fainted.

* * *

Sirius slowly walked into the grimy kitchen, mulling over his odd dream. He stopped suddenly, remembering one seemingly insignificant detail - Lily had mentioned Harry. 

Sirius's mouth curved down into a scowl as he went over to his godson's chair, grabbing the backrest and spinning it on one leg so that Harry almost toppled out before facing his rather distracted godfather. Remus Lupin, looking very tired the day after the full moon, smiled at him, remembering all the times Sirius had done just that same trick to all of their friends back in the days of the Marauders. Harry's mother had absolutely _loathed_ it, and had squealed loudly every time Sirius had been able to sneak up behind her and perform it. (Which only motivated him to do it more, of course.)

"Harry, I've just talked to Lily. Why didn't you tell me that you'd spoken with her?"

Silence permeated the kitchen at his question, and Sirius could have sworn he heard a cricket chirp.

Remus stood up cautiously and approached Sirius, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Lily, Sirius? Where did you... see Lily?" he asked, looking at the dark-haired man worriedly.

"Moony, sit back down. I'm not talking about Lily Potter!" Sirius snapped at the man. Remus looked hurt, and he shot the werewolf an apologetic look. He turned back to his godson, and his face hardened again. "Harry, why didn't you tell anyone you've been having dreams like that?"

Harry just looked at Sirius guiltily. He was in for a long talk.

* * *

Lily regained consciousness all at once, to be confronted with a very large beak of some kind in her face. Barely resisting the urge to scream, lest the animal decide a little bit of Lily might make a nice snack, she slowly and carefully wriggled to the other side of the bed. She didn't notice another little golden thread and thread tangle until she had sat up into its path. She was promptly dragged away at the same break-neck pace she had experienced before. She was soon able to see she was being pulled through an incredibly dusty and grungy old house. 

"You regularly dream about beautiful strangers in the Great Hall?" Lily could hear Sirius shouting as she was pulled right through a wall. She emerged on the other side to see Sirius's back, bent over someone in a chair and shouting in their face.

"You think I'm beautiful? Sirius, I'm flattered," said Lily. Her voice sounded odd in her ears, hollow and echoing.

* * *

"You think I'm beautiful? Sirius, I'm flattered." Sirius turned around as he heard her voice. Floating an inch off the ground was the shimmering, translucent figure of Lily. She walked – eerily not quite touching the ground - around Sirius to peek at Harry and then ruffle Harry's hair. "How ya doin'?" she chirruped. 

Harry's mouth opened and closed several times before he was able to croak out a reply. "Fine, you?"

"I'm great, babe. Where are we?" she asked. "Cool old house, huh? Seems to need some serious cleaning, but there's potential." She stared around the room curiously, seemingly oblivious to the stares the was getting from the various dinner guests.

"STUPEFY!" yelled a grizzled old man Lily figured just had to be Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody. His shout startled everyone in the room. The bolt of red light passed right out the doorway to the living room through Lily. She giggled.

"That tickled! You really are a paranoid old coot, aren't ya?" Harry got up and put a hand over Lily's mouth. Surprisingly, she felt solid to him.

"Behave, or I'll be forced to tell them about that incident with Spook and the 'haunted' closet," he said solemnly, shaking a finger at her. Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and the twins all looked at each other and grinned; this was the most playful they'd seen Harry in a long time, and they were happy for him... even if he was being playful with a complete stranger. They giggled as Lily mock-glared at and then tackled Harry after he winked at her, straddling his thighs with her translucent legs and attacking his sides with her fingers. "Lily! Lily, stop! I'll sick Ripper on you!" Harry gasped out through his laughing.

"Excuse me, Mister Potter, but there is going to be an Order Meeting in a few moments. If you would mind postponing or relocating your, ah, activities?" said a kind, tired voice from the door. Lily, still straddling Harry, turned to see who it was. She grinned as she saw the wizened old wizard behind her. She stood and made as if to go introduce herself to him, when she abruptly fell to her knees on the floor. Harry rushed over to her, but froze at the intense expression of pain on her face.

"Damn it," she whispered, before disappearing, leaving only a pile of gold glitter to prove she had ever existed.

* * *

A/N: The title of this I got from a poem by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, called "Now Sleeps the Crimson Petal".

Please review.


	2. The Dreamer Wakes

**Chapter Two: The Dreamer Wakes**

The loud, irritating buzzing of her alarm clock cut through the still-whirling colors of Lily's dream, bringing the redhead back into her mussed bed and out of her fantasy.

"Wha. . .?" Lily mumbled groggily, blinking owlishly.

Spook lifted his head and meowed at her sleepily.

Lily's brain slowly woke up, and slowly she remembered the huge shopping trip she had been waiting for and saving for the past two years. With the prospect of a massive shopping trip in her near future, Lily shot out of bed and into the shower.

* * *

Lily sighed happily and flopped onto the couch in the living room of their small apartment, surrounded by nearly two thousand dollars worth of clothes and shoes. It was raining outside, and the rain hitting the roof took Lily right back to her childhood and her great old room in the attic. She and her mother had lived in that tiny little apartment for ten years before Lily went off to college; but she hadn't been able to keep the place after her mother's death. 

Spook meowed pitifully for his dinner, bringing Lily back to the present. She sluggishly made her way into the kitchen and fed the cat. Shedding pieces of her outfit on the way, Lily trudged into the bedroom and dropped onto her bed."Let's get to bed, Lils," she said tiredly. "You can put it all away tomorrow."

She was asleep before she could pull the blanket over herself.

* * *

Lily barely had time to register the smoky dreamscape before she was whizzing off to that grimy old house once again. The shapes around her solidified into a gloomy hallway with some old Victorian furniture, and Lily landed roughly on her knees - which she noticed still floated an inch off the ground. 

"Lily! You're back!"

Lily spun around and grabbed Harry into a massive hug, any prior fatigue a fast-fading memory.

"How ya doin', Hare-bear?" Lily said loudly, seeing his friends come around the corner. Lily's efforts were rewarded with a dark blush from Harry.

"Lily! You stopped calling me that when I was five!" Harry protested under his breath, face still flushed adorably.

"Hare-bear, you're older now, and I'm like your older sister. That means I am obligated to call you annoying and potentially embarrassing nicknames," Lily replied cheekily, giving him a noogie and putting his hair into even greater disarray. Ron grinned unabashedly, and Hermione giggled a bit. Ginny just walked over to Harry and with a commiserating pat on his arm told him, "It only gets worse if you complain." Harry sighed, and glared at Lily.

A loud crack echoed down the hallway, and Lily 'eep!'-ed and jumped. Fred and George grinned, glad that there was once again someone who wasn't used to their Apparating - and therefore easy to frighten the living daylights out of.

"Hullo, there. You'll be that broad who dreams herself across the pond, yeah?" said one of the twins.

"I'm Gred," said the other.

"And I'm Forge," said the first. "Mum says to come down for lunch," said... Forge. Lily couldn't for the life of her tell the difference.

"Are you hungry?" Harry asked Lily. "You could have lunch with us, if you want." Harry looked so hopeful, Lily couldn't refuse. She agreed, and Harry promptly dragged her down to the kitchen, babbling about Mrs. Weasley's wonderful cooking the entire way.

* * *

Lunch was rather tense. At the table sat the Weasley children, Harry, Hermione, Mrs. Weasley, Sirius, Remus, Lily, and a woman called Tonks (who was sporting white hair. . . with black spots reminiscent of a Dalmatian). Lily could tell that Mrs. Weasley didn't know what to make of her, Lily. The kind woman was running hot and cold; she was friendly one moment, and then looked at her suspiciously the next. Added to that, the silverware didn't seem to like her very much. Her spoon kept diving out of her hands into her tomato soup, and her fork actually scuttled away on its prongs. Lily was hesitant to pick up her knife for fear of the consequences. 

Lily sighed as her spoon took another leap, and settled for picking up the bowl and slurping the last of the soup straight out of the bowl in as dignified a manner as she could manage. As she set her bowl back down, Tonk's nose wiggled strangely - and then morphed to become an exact copy of Lily's rather prominent schnoz. Lily laughed, causing Harry to look up from trying to smother his laugh in his napkin. Lily smiled as she saw Harry trying to look at her covertly to see her reaction.

"Harry, I got over my huge honker years ago; would you stop peering at me from underneath your eyelashes?" she asked, looking at him with a mock annoyed look.

"So why did you leave me alone for so long when I poked fun at it that one time?" Harry asked dryly.

"Oh, hush. I was only eleven, and an insecure pre-teen," she said, dismissing his complaint with a wave of her hand.

"But I was only seven! I still thought you had cooties, even if you were alright for a girl," he protested.

"Yeah, well-" Lily was cut off as Sirius spoke up for the first time.

"You've known her since you were seven years old and never told anyone?" he asked incredulously, a hint of anger in his voice.

Harry stuck out his chin defiantly. "She practically raised me. I've known her forever." Lily smiled and slung an arm around his shoulders. She gave him a quick peck on the cheek. Hermione smiled when he didn't blush - he had told Ron and her all about Lily the night before, and Hermione for one was glad that Harry had someone like Lily who was affectionate with him.

"Yup. I just couldn't stay away, could I Hare-bear?" she chirped. Tonks laughed loudly at Harry's blush, covering the choking sound Sirius made while trying not to laugh while slurping his soup as Lily had. Harry gave Lily a sulky mock-glare as she joined Tonks in laughing.

Harry's glare turned into a confused look as he pulled away from Lily.

"When did you stop glowing?"

Lily looked down at her hands. She was no longer see through - she had become completely solid.

* * *

"But... no, I still," Lily stuttered, staring down at her hands. She stared down at her hands in shock. In her dreams, she was _always_ that peculiar glittery transparent golden color – always. It came with that feeling of disconnectedness that had comforted her when she had nightmares; it was a peaceful, reassuring, this-is-all-fake-and-you'll-be-okay feeling. Now that feeling was completely gone, and Lily knew, beyond any reasonable doubt, that this – this grimy old house, and even Harry, _especially_ Harry – was _real_. 

"Harry?" Lily said slowly and clearly, not _quite_ panicking. She turned to look at him, staring into those deep and mature eyes she had seen so many times before. "What's happening to me?" she asked him quietly, not really expecting an answer. He mutely shrugged his shoulders in shock.

The redhead stood up suddenly, knocking her chair over. She looked to the others at the table, taking in their expressions with a glance. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny kept looking back and forth between Harry and her. Fred and George were looking at each other quizzically, and their mother just looked confused. Remus's brow was creased with confusion. Tonks was busily finishing a mouthful of sandwich. Sirius was beginning to look angry again– which was most likely from their lack of information, thought Lily.

"I'm just going to-" said Lily dazedly, before falling back into a dead faint, catching the floor in a soft thump.

* * *

Lily woke slowly. She was first aware that she was lying on a sofa that smelled of dust, and then that Harry was talking. Slowly, Harry's meaningless syllables coalesced into recognizable words. 

"She is _NOT_ dangerous!" Harry whispered venomously.

"You can't know that!" Sirius whispered back just as fiercely. Lily could hear his footsteps move across the hardwood floor as he paced.

"I have known her forever, Sirius! She practically _raised_ me! She was there when nobody else _cared_, and..." Harry stated, trailing off at the end to glance at Lily. The redhead just smiled and sat up. He opened up her arms without saying a word and Harry practically dived into them for a hug. Lily was seated, with Harry standing but bent at the waist to hug her. Lily shifted so that Harry didn't have to stand, and the bespectacled boy sat down next to her on the dusty couch and hugged her tightly. The feeling of the young man in her arms threw her back into memories.

When Lily had visited Harry in her dreams for the first time, many years ago, Harry had been only two years old. Six-year-old Lily had seen that he was unhappy with the Dursleys even then, and had played with him quietly in the cupboard under the stairs. To Harry's delight, she had kept coming back – for the next thirteen years.

Lily looked over Harry's shoulder at Sirius, the only other person in the room.

"Look, Mr. Black," said Lily gently. "I may be a bit different from what you're used to, but _nothing_ could make me hurt Harry or any dear to him."

Sirius still looked suspicious, but he didn't say anything. She tightened her grip on Harry's thin waist, and gently kissed his hair.

"Love you, baby," she whispered to him, smiling gently at the familiar phrase.

"I love you too, Lily," he whispered unhesitatingly back. Lily looked up at Sirius. For a split second, there was an intense look of guilt and sadness on his gaunt face before a blank mask settled over his features. With a calm exterior, Sirius walked out of the room.

* * *

For the next week, Lily was forced to stay in a hastily cleaned extra bedroom in the grimy old house, which she later learned was generally called "Grimmauld Place". The official excuse was that they didn't know if Lily was a threat to the 'Order', though she didn't even know what it was. Harry, and the other children, whom he'd managed to convince of Lily's relative harmlessness early on, were the only people that would come to see her in her prison. Sometimes Hermione would bring her interesting books about the history of the Wizarding World or about the culture of centaurs and the like. Ron came to play Wizarding chess with her, and Lily was now an official guinea pig for Fred and George's transfiguring candies. Ginny came in wanting advice or sometimes girl-talk and Lily believed that, next to Harry, she was closest to the youngest Weasley. 

Harry came to her a lot, whether it was with the others, or to do his homework, to talk, or just to sit with her in silence. He told her a lot of what happened around the house, like how they had found doxies in the curtains of such-and-such room and Gred or Forge had nicked some, or Ron and Hermione had been in a row about this or that.

All in all, Lily was heartily glad when there as a knock on the door by someone other than the teens. It was Albus Dumbledore himself.

"Oh, hello, Professor Dumbledore!" she exclaimed.

He was so much more than the description Rowling offered in her books. The aging headmaster was quite tall, and had an aura of pure power wrapped around him. He had a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, which shone with hidden knowledge and wisdom of countless ages. Albus Dumbledore was a thoroughly intimidating person.

"Miss Anderson, would you please come with me?" he asked, with a voice curiously free of inflection. Lily stood and followed as meekly as she could behind the wizard as he led her into the kitchen, the dark, cavernous room lit by the roaring fire in the fireplace at the far end of the room.

There were a number of people gathered around the large kitchen table nearly spanning the considerable length of the room.

"Is this the Order?" Lily asked.

"It is," said Dumbledore quietly, leading her over to an empty chair at the head of the table. Lily sat cautiously, but then began to struggle violently as metal bands snapped across her arms, legs, and ribcage. She glared at Dumbledore.

"What _right_ do you have to imprison me like this?" she asked coldly. She ceased her struggles, and let her livid black eyes speak for her themselves. Dumbledore was the only one in the room that would fully meet her furious gaze.

"We must ensure the safety of the Order. Your rights must take second place to the safety of the Order," claimed the old man in a revoltingly blasé voice.

"What do you want from me?" Lily asked in an eerily calm, yet cutting, voice.

"We want you to drink this," said Dumbledore, producing a small vial of clear liquid. Recognizing it as Veritaserum from the description in Prisoner of Azkaban when it was used on Crouch Jr, Lily clenched her jaw shut. This was no obstacle however, for Dumbledore just pulled out his wand and whispered a few words.

Lily glared even more angrily as she felt her jaw muscles go slack. Dumbledore gently tilted her head back and poured a few drops from the vial down her throat.

Even as Lily's rage grew, the potion took hold of her will.

"What is your name?" asked Dumbledore. His words seemed to Lily to echo, and she felt as if she was floating in dream-form again.

"Lilith Morgaine Anderson," Lily replied dully, even though she fought to keep her silence.

"How old are you?" came a new, vaguely familiar voice from behind her chair.

"I am nineteen years old. I will be twenty on August 28th."

"Do you wish to harm anyone in or associated with the Order of the Phoenix?" asked the voice, smooth as silk but steely and commanding.

"Yes. Albus Dumbledore is a manipulative jackass." Surprisingly, the Voice laughed.

"What do you want of Harry Potter?" asked Dumbledore.

"I want him to be happy," she answered simply. She could distantly hear the others at the table muttering.

Now, she could hear someone banging on something and yelling. Through glazed eyes, she watched as Harry burst in the door, shouting that she was gone. He went absolutely silent and motionless when he saw Lily.

"What is she doing here?" Harry asked the silent room, as Ron ran in after Harry.

Mechanically but not without a certain amount of glee, Lily answered the question. "She is being questioned under Veritaserum against her will and wanting to smack Dumbledore for being a paranoid old fart." Ron snickered. Harry glared. The Voice behind Lily spoke up.

"Headmaster, the Veritaserum is wearing off," he muttered incredulously. True to his word, the floating feeling left within a matter of seconds. Unfortunately, the steel restraints remained.

"You brainless, spineless _worm_," Lily spat into the silent and chilly room. "I would have been willing to tell you anything you wanted if you had just _asked_ me!"

Lily stared into the Headmaster's face, searching for some small sign of remorse. Save for the lack of that usual twinkle in his eyes, Dumbledore's visage was completely calm. Lily graced him with one of her best – and rather scary, if Harry was to be believed – glares.

The infuriating old man didn't react at all.

The Voice behind her chair did. He whispered the charm to release her bindings, causing them to crash loudly to the floor, and then walked into her line of sight. When she looked up into his face, she froze in absolute shock.

_"Uncle Sev!"_

* * *

A/N: So that's that. PLEASE review! If you don't review, I won't know you've read this, and then I will assume NOBODY is reading this, and then I'll get depressed, and then I'll mope... and everything bad happens if you don't review, see? 

Er, hope you liked it. I think Harry is sort of OOC in this chapter, but people act differently around people they've known all their life, right? At least, that's what I'm telling myself.

Please review, even if it's just to tell me I am a horrible writer who deserves to be shot.

Liza Lupin


	3. Trouble Always Comes in Threes

**Chapter Three: Trouble Always Comes in Threes...**

* * *

Harry sat stiffly in his chair at the kitchen table, fuming. Dumbledore was _not_ on his list of favorite people right now. He had skillfully evaded Harry all summer, going so far as to pretend as if Harry was a non-entity during his disciplinary hearing. Then, he simply _had_ to give Lily Veritaserum and strap her into that monstrous chair with metal bands (remarkably similar to the one he had seen in Dumbledore's pensieve used for Azkaban trials). 

'He's worse than Umbridge,' Harry thought viciously. His anger faded away to be replaced by confusion. 'Where did that come from?' he wondered. He really had absolutely no reason to hate the woman; he'd only ever been in her presence once. He shook off the odd thought as he heard the sound of Lily's sobbing recede into the house.

Snape, who had been called 'Uncle Sev' by Lily pre-hysterics, had disappeared upstairs with the redhead. She had begun sobbing and clinging to him, making Harry's heart clench. Snape's face had softened, and Harry saw for the first time what the cranky Potions Master looked like when he actually thought someone was worth the air they were breathing. The dark man had put one arm tenderly around Lily's shoulders and gently led her out of the room. Sirius had similarly steered Harry into a chair. Now Harry was just sitting, glaring angrily at the tabletop.

"Mr. Potter-" Dumbledore began.

"No!" he yelled harshly. "Is my word worth something anywhere?" He looked up and locked eyes with the aging Headmaster. "If I'm supposed to be your bloody savior, the Boy-Who-Wouldn't-Bloody-Die, then why don't you listen to me for just a moment?" he asked derisively. "Nobody but Lily would have cared or noticed before Hogwarts is the Dursleys had beat me to death." Harry realized that he had stood up at some point. He met the gaze of everyone in the room, and gave a concise nod as he realized he saw respect in some of their eyes.

"Have you ever thought," he continued quietly, "that I don't want to murder anyone?" Harry's voice broke on the last two words, and he abruptly sat down as his anger rushed out of him. "I've had enough of people dying," he concluded in a whisper, his eyes lowered to the table. He folded his arms on the table and rested his head on them. He sighed deeply, feeling enormously better now that he had gotten everything off his chest. He'd said his piece, and now the ball was in their court.

Except...

'_No..._' whispered a rebellious voice in the back of his mind. '_Revenge..._' it whispered silkily.

'_Yes, I should repay them for everything_,' Harry thought mechanically.

'_**NO**_!' another part of his mind whispered urgently; it was the part of him that rebelled when Harry was under the Imperious Curse. The revenge-seeking part of Harry actually hissed, and alarm bells went off in Harry's head. His head shot up off the table, and he realized everyone was still quiet. Ron was still in the room, and had in fact been followed by Hermione, Ginny, Fred, and George. The occupants of the room focused their attention on him, one and all.

Harry searched for that hissing part of his mind, and seized it with mental hands he could almost see with his outer eyes. It slid through his 'fingers' like a slick and wriggling snake and he decided he would be wiser to just watch in case the snake had fangs. The touch of the serpent made the inside of his head feel slimy and tainted.

So he watched it instead, and experienced a curious sensation as it actually fled before his inquiring mental gaze.

Those surrounding him watched as his eyes, so bright before, began to shine with a brilliant green light. They were a deep, forest green with varying shades of gold swimming and swirling around within. The pupils of his eyes shone a dark and sinister red as dark as freshly shed blood. He green and gold began to contract around the red slowly, so very slowly... as if the red light was resisting.

Harry gasped as he felt the snake separate itself from his mind with a feeling like a dislocated bone being popped back into its socket. He choked on his breath as the entity gave him a short mental whip before its complete departure.

The Order and Ron watched as the red glowed brightly before being consumed by the green and gold. Harry's eyes returned to normal as he blinked.

The black-haired boy wheezed into the stunned silence as Sirius whacked him heartily on the back; Harry could hear Mrs. Weasley trying not to have hysterics in the background. He slowly got his breath back and stared down at his hand, palm down on the tabletop. They had felt unusually warm for a moment, and he noticed with a shock that his hand prints were burned into the tabletop. He rummaged around mentally and found that what he had been fearing was true.

Harry lifted his head and locked eyes with first Sirius, and then his friends before announcing to the entire room, "Voldemort was in my mind."

* * *

The scratching of quills on parchment and the sound of pages turning filled the second floor study. Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Lily were sitting quietly at one end of the moderately-sized mahogany table taking up most of the room while Hermione alternated between staring accusingly at her friends, smiling gently at Lily, and reading a massive Advanced Charms book. The boys were diligently (if not a bit sullenly) doing their homework, and Ginny was putting down her quill after finishing her Transfiguration essay. The youngest Weasley looked cautiously over at Lily. 

"So Snape is your uncle?" she asked hesitantly. Three heads shot up to listen to Lily's answer; she had been uncharacteristically tight-lipped for the past two days.

"That would be why I call him Uncle Sev," she replied dryly. She smiled kindly at Ginny. "You guys are my friends; you don't have to be so hesitant to ask questions." She laughed as all four of them immediately started asking questions. "One at a time!" she giggled.

"I didn't know Snape had family," Hermione said, marking her place in her book and placing it on the table.

"My mother was his sister," Lily replied. "She married a muggle, and was disowned. Then, true to the family's expectations of him, he got her preggers and ran off. Of course, I didn't know any of this about the family until yesterday. I thought Mom's whole family was dead."

"How did you know that Snape was your uncle, then?" asked Harry. Lily smiled grimly.

"He used to visit us, up until I was about eight. One day he came for a visit, and said he'd stay a whole week this time. Usually he'd only stay a day, or two at the most. We had a really little apartment in New York City, and we didn't have any room for him to stay. We were dirt poor, and Mom and I already shared a bed." Her eyes took on a faraway look, and she appeared to be talking more to herself now than the others. "It was great; I thought he was so cool, since I was only eight and he was twenty-four whole years old. He took me to the zoo three days in a row; his favorite was the reptile house with all the snakes. On the fourth day, I waited by the door all day, but he never came. Mom told me the next day that he had to go - no explanation, just that he had to go. He never came back after that, and Mom told me she thought he was dead. Six years later, she died, and I was adopted. I had a new family, and just kind of pushed him to the back of my mind." She shrugged, coming back into the present. "I found out yesterday that he went to Dumbledore that day, to confess about being a Death Eater. Harry had already imploded Moldy-Voldie (Ginny began giggling uncontrollably at the ridiculous nick-name), and he was in hiding 'cause he was a known Death Eater." Lily reached across the table to muss up Harry's hair. "Get back to work, story's over, munchkin."

Harry blushed at the nickname, but did get back to work - for a total of three seconds.

"What's that?" Ginny asked, gesturing at an elaborate sketch on Lily's parchment of doodles. It looked like some kind of insignia: a dragon eating a snake, with the pair wrapped sinuously around an elaborate "M". Lily was a talented artist. The dragon, though in a fierce pose, had an underlying look of gentleness about it. The snake had fear shining from its wide, staring eyes.

"Oh, that's just Drake's crest," Lily replied distractedly, shading the dragon's eyes with the pencil she had borrowed from Hermione. Her hand stopped abruptly, and then resumed jerkily._ 'Oh crap_,' she thought.

"Who's Drake?" asked Ginny, wondering where she had seen something like the sketch. She knew it was familiar.

"Um... he's, um..." Lily stuttered. Harry looked up from his half- finished Charms essay. Lily was a horrible liar - she always stuttered.

"Lily," Harry said simply, "Don't lie to me." Harry looked at her in that calm way that could pry anything out of her. Lily cringed, and sighed in defeat. Why did she have to have such a big mouth? Before she could come up with an answer, Sirius and Remus walked in, covered in dust and carrying cleaning supplies.

"What's this about lying?" asked Remus curiously. Lily fidgeted nervously.

"Lily's drawn something odd," said Hermione, pointing at the offending piece of parchment. "Ginny asked her what is was." Remus just shrugged, and went over to the window to sit in the window seat.

Sirius, however, walked the few steps to the table to peer over Lily's shoulder at the doodle. His face darkened dangerously at the sight.

"You have some explaining to do, Lily," Sirius said. "This is... some form of the Malfoy family crest."

Hermione put it together first. "Drake? You're on a first name basis with that slimy git?" she exclaimed. Ron and Harry shared an amused look - Hermione never cursed. They sobered as they remembered what she had said prior. Ron's ears turned red, and Ginny gave Lily an odd look. Harry's face closed off, all emotion hidden. Lily knew that look, and winced - it meant he was furious. He turned to her, standing up calmly.

"Draco Malfoy?" he asked, his voice dangerously quiet. "How could you keep a secret like this from me? What is it about me that makes people want to lie to me?" he continued, the volume of his voice rising. "I understand Voldemort sending me false visions, but -" Harry stopped mid-sentence. Lily looked confused.

"False visions?" Lily asked. Understanding dawned on her features. "The fifth book..." she whispered. She hadn't been able to read it yet, having spent all of her pocket money on her shopping spree. She scrutinized the boy's face, and found things she'd never seen before - lines made by sadness and pain. "How old are you, Harry?" she asked quietly.

"Sixteen," he replied weakly. He was covered in goosebumps and shivering, although the room was warm.

"Oh dear," said Hermione shakily.

"Sirius," moaned Harry, turning to his godfather. Lily hugged her arms to her body as she heard his voice; it was full of utter sadness and pain.

"The Department of Mysteries," murmured Hermione. Lily could do nothing but stare around the room; her body seemed rooted to the spot. She heard a thump and watched confusedly as Ginny actually fainted. Ron rushed over to her even though he was white as a sheet himself. Hermione had her hands over her mouth, with a look of fierce inward concentration on her face. Harry was bent over the edge of the table, wheezing as if someone had punched him in the gut. Sirius and Remus were by far the worst. Remus, eyes closed, had tears running down his cheeks. He had risen to clamp his hand in a death grip on Sirius's shoulder. Sirius had a look of complete, utterly consuming despair written in every line of his being. It seemed that his entire existence was being held together by his old friend's hand.

Call it what you will, but Lily could tell instinctively that in some way, she had cause all of their pain and distress. She ran out of the room, tears making silent trails down her cheeks.

* * *

Lily sniffled silently. She was quite hidden, having tripped on a bit of folded rug and fallen through a wall. Unfortunately, after her fall her ankle throbbed and had begun to swell. She had managed to stumble upon a little cubby with a small bench, covered by the illusion of a flat wall. So unless Sirius, the only person likely to know about the secret grotto, knew where it was, wanted to find her, and was in any condition to do so, she was alone. 

But apparently not as alone as she had believed; Severus and Dumbledore came down to hall, arguing. They were arguing about her.

"What happened to my niece?" Severus growled. "I am her only family, and as such, I believe I deserve an explanation."

Dumbledore sighed wearily, for once sounding his actual age. "There is a reason there is only one Dream Weaver roughly every 100 years - the Magic they use unconsciously every day takes that long to be replenished when a Weaver dies."

"This Magic," he continued, "is very powerfully attuned to the Weaver. It sometimes acts without the Weaver being aware of it. In Ms. Anderson's case, she believed Sirius to be alive, and so he simply was. The fact that she pulled him into one of her dreams first only made the Magic more powerful, as she was in her element."

Severus stood, shocked. He had grown up on stories of the power of a Weaver - the most famous had been Rowena Ravenclaw. "How did their memories return?" he asked. "Was the child in conscious control of it?" Lily leaned forward on her bench to better hear the answer.

"Ms. Anderson realized that Harry looked older than 15, if Miss Granger's guess is correct. And her guesses usually are," the Headmaster replied.

'Oh god,' Lily thought, remembering the heartbreaking looks on Sirius and Remus's faces. 'I pulled him out of heaven!' She panicked at the thought. 'Please, Magic!' she pleaded silently. 'Come back, and don't change anything else!'

Lily gasped loudly and pitched forward off the couch as she saw a glimmering silver cloud surround her. It called to her, and thrummed in her bones. She breathed it in, taking it back into herself from her position on the ground half inside her hidey-hole. Her head thumped onto the ground as the Magic flooded her, burning its way through her bones and blood. The last thing she saw was Severus rushing toward her before her world faded to black.

* * *

Lily woke up all at once. She was being carried through the halls of Grimmauld Place by her scowling uncle. She tried to protest that she could walk, but a moan was all that she could produce. He looked down at her, and she could see the worry in his eyes. He was still scowling, though; Lily had decided earlier that, other than his smirk, it was his favored facial expression. After a time, Lily found herself in th doorway of the dreaded study once again. She got a brief glimpse of the room, and saw that Dumbledore, Molly Weasley, and a tall, bald black man were also in the room in addition to the others, who hadn't left. Her guilt threatened to overwhelm her. It was horrible - and only increased, now that she knew that she really had caused it. She turned her head to hide her face in Severus's robes. The redhead began to sob quietly, and Severus mutely rubbed her back in support. She soon found herself curled up in Sev's lap, safely ensconced in a large chair in the corner of the room. She kept her face buried in the safety of his dark robes. 

"Lily?" asked Harry tentatively. All of a sudden, Lily was back in Harry's cupboard under the stairs as a frightened Harry asked for comfort. "L...lily?" Hearing the impending tears in his voice, Lily turned and stood just in time to collapse to the floor with Harry sobbing brokenly into her neck. She sat silently on the floor with him, cradling him as they both wept.

* * *

A/N: Holy Doritoes, that was six pages! I hate the ending of this... too much crying. Bleurgh. Let me know what you think. 


	4. Magic Becomes Art

**Chapter Four: Magic Becomes Art**

"I'm sorry... Don't be angry, Harry..." Lily moaned, tossing and turning in her sleep. Harry watched silently as tears leaked out of her eyes.

'_I'm sorry too..._' he thought to himself. Lily had always been there for him, since almost before he could remember. She had been his secret friend that nobody knew about; something that was his and his alone, a rare amenity in the Dursley household for a young wizard. He had treasured his secret, never once slipping up and revealing her. It hadn't been until he grew up and had started going to Hogwarts that he had doubted the reality of his first, best, and only friend. _Of course_ she was real, and it was utterly ridiculous that she was... imaginary. Except for the fact that she never visited him at Hogwarts, and for the fact that she vehemently insisted that he was a character in a new series of books written by some woman named J.K. Rowling. It had never occurred to him that Lily might be visiting other people... and apparently she hadn't felt it was important to tell him that she was visiting with _Draco Malfoy,_ of all people. She couldn't have chosen someone other than his arch nemesis? He sighed as she continued to call out in his sleep, mumbling apologies.

Snape had given her something to get her to sleep and dream again; she had suffered from insomnia for three nights after she had revealed her secret to everyone. Now, although she was sleeping, it wasn't peacefully. Her conscience wouldn't leave her alone.

"HARRY! NO!" Lily screamed suddenly. She arched off the mattress. "HE'S ALRIGHT, IT'S JUST A TRICK!" The redhead flopped back onto the dusty bed, and began sobbing again, curling into the fetal position and clutching the covers.

Harry stared, wide-eyed, as Lily continued to cry as if her heart was crushed. She began whimpering softly. Harry couldn't stand it any more, but Snape had made it quite clear that Lily was **not** to be woken. He climbed into the bed with her, gently pulling her into his lap and stroking her hair. She clutched his large t-shirt and cried into it instead.

"What happened?" growled Snape from the doorway. He stormed across the room to inspect his niece.

"She just started yelling at me. She never woke up," Harry replied calmly. He seemed to be unable to produce any strong emotions at the moment. Snape glared at him one last time before sweeping back out of the room. Ron and Hermione stood just outside in the hall. "Come in," Harry said, beckoning them in. "Just be quiet."

His two best friends entered silently. Hermione sat in the chair Harry had just vacated as Ron pulled a stiff, wooden chair in from the hall. They sat in silence as Lily continued to cry and call out.

* * *

The next morning, Lily woke, alone in the dusty old bed she had been placed in. Her twisted ankle throbbed dully, and her eyes were gritty from too much crying. A weak beam of sunlight filtered through a grungy window, throwing the unlit room into twilight. 

_"SHE KILLED SIRIUS!" bellowed Harry. "SHE KILLED HIM - I'LL KILL HER!"_

Lily shook her head to clear away the memories thrust upon her by the potion she had gagged down. It was made to induce dreams, and her dreams had always given her whatever she requested... so she asked for Harry's memories of the previous year. She had relived them, complete with the turbulent teenage emotions. He had been through so much in his life. Where did she get off lying to him about Draco?

_'Draco...'_ she thought. She had tried to get to Harry during his first night at Hogwarts, six years ago, but she had been drawn accidentally to somebody else, huddled crying in their four poster bed...

_Flashback _

Lily rested a spectral hand on the small, pale boy's back, rubbing in small circles as he muffled the sound of his crying in his pillow. Hesat up as he felt her hand on his back, his head jerking up as he felt her touch. 'Who... who are you?' he had asked angrily, looking rather unimpressive with his tearstained face and runny nose.

'I'm a friend,' she had replied, getting into the bed with him. He was stiff, glaring at her fiercely, at first, until he eventually gave in to the ghost-like form sitting next to him. 'What's wrong?' she whispered gently. He looked at her one last time, searching her face for something. Apparently he found it, because he promptly collapsed against her. The floodgate opened, and he told her all about how mean his father was, and how everything had to be perfect, and how he always had to act befitting of a Malfoy.

'I never get to have any friends!' he wailed, his voice muffled in the thick sweatshirt Lily had gone to sleep in.

'Now you do. I'll stay with you tonight, okay?' she had offered. And so she had stayed.

From that time onward, she had split her dream-time between the two boys - the Hogwarts school year for Draco, and the summer for Harry. She had gotten away with it, with neither the wiser, until now. She had watched as they grew up; Draco became more self-contained and controlled as he distanced himself from his housemates, and Harry became less shy and reserved as he made friends with Hermione and Ron. Draco had opened up to her, at least, and she was sure that deep down he was a decent person. He was forced to act like a nasty little bugger to make sure that his father was pleased with him, and had almost convinced himself that he really did like the foul man.

She had learned at some point during their first year that they hated each other, and had actually stayed away from him for two weeks. He had been hurt afterward, but she had apologized and he had immediately forgiven her.

Harry stirred beside her, and she realized that he had fallen asleep next to her; she vaguely remembered him getting into bed with her when she was watching Sirius fall through the veil...

She shook her head and went back to sleep.

_Draco glanced around. Harry knew he was checking for signs of teachers. Then he looked back at Harry and said in a low voice, "You're dead, Potter." Lily could see through the exterior - he was just doing this for appearance's sake. She almost giggled at the boredom she could see in his eyes. _

Harry raised his eyebrows. "Funny," he said, "you'd think I'd have stopped walking around..." 'Wow,' Lily thought. 'Harry's gotten sharp...'

Draco looked angrier than Harry had ever seen him, but Lily could see that he was acting. She felt a surge of pride for his acting skills.  
"You're going to pay," said Malfoy in a voice barely louder that a whisper. Draco always had been rather melodramatic in his better moods. "I'm going to make you pay for what you've done to my father..." Nope. He just liked ticking off Harry, because it was so easy. Just because he wasn't evil didn't mean he didn't like to be a bit of a nuisance.

"Well, I'm terrified now," said Harry sarcastically. "I s'pose Lord Voldemort's just a warm-up act compared to you three - what's the matter?" he said, for Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle had all looked stricken at the sound of the name. More acting... on Draco's part, anyway. Draco liked to call Voldemort 'Lord Moldywart' in private. "He's your dad's mate, isn't he? Not scared of him, are you?"

Lily forcibly pushed the implanted memory away; she hated to see the nasty façade Draco used. She woke enough to stare at the beam of light once again...

She had magic now, did she?

* * *

Molly Weasley gasped in delight as she entered the guest room Lily and Harry had slept in. There was a weak beam of light filtering through the dirty, cracked window. Where it touched the floor, it became a babbling brook of sunshine, flowing around the bed as it followed the pattern woven into the dusty rug on the floor. It circulated around the bed, a glorious progression of sunlight and happiness made liquid. She sighed happily, and turned to get the children. As she walked away, spirits lifted somehow, she reevaluated her opinion of the red headed girl who was so fond of her surrogate son. Anyone who could create something so uplifting couldn't be half bad. 

Lily smiled in her sleep, and butterflies of sunlight burst forth from the surface of the stream to flutter around the room.


	5. Draco the Lewd

**Chapter Five: Draco the Lewd**

Light filtered through a window, shining gently and making its own warm little patch of floor. Butterflies of the same ethereal substance floated idly around the room. Every so often, a butterfly would land on something and expire, leaving a sprinkle of gold dust in its wake. The light filled the room Lily and Harry slept in, warming it and making a show of the glitter and more common variety of dust in the air as it floated through the luminescent shafts. On a bed against the wall housing the window was an old comforter, soft and luxurious in green silk. The top of the comforter shifted as the redhead beneath it unhurriedly came to.

Lily's eyes slowly opened to the sight of one of her butterflies lazily fluttering down from the ceiling to land on her nose. She sneezed violently and rolled over to meet a pair of drowsy green eyes. The redhead smiled slightly and pulled the young wizard closer to her. Harry curled up like a sleepy cat, pillowing his head on her shoulder. He sighed. His eyebrows furrowed, and some of the sluggishness left him. Lily knew that he would be wanting an explanation sooner or later, and it appeared that it would be the former.

"Why Malfoy?" he asked. Lily was relieved to have a relatively easy question first. Her brain still wasn't quite up to speed, as she was most definitely _not_ a morning person.

"Because he was lonely, like you. Maybe even more than you... he didn't have great friends like the Weasleys and Hermione," she replied. "He didn't have anyone to confide in or just talk to." Harry's brow creased, and she knew that he'd be really thinking about what she said, instead of just reacting. '_Good_', she thought. '_He's trying._'

"Why didn't you ever tell me about him?" Harry looked up into her eyes as he asked the question, and Lily was ashamed to see that he was really feeling betrayed by her secretiveness. She sighed deeply and gently pressed a kiss to his forehead. They lay in silence for a few moments as Lily tried to find the words to express the way she felt. She really didn't want to make anything worse. _'Tact, Lily. You can do this.'_

"I was afraid you'd hate me for being friends with your rival. You two seem to fight a lot, and if you wanted me to take sides... I don't think I'd be able to handle it for long," she said deliberately. "You don't know Dray like I do... he has a different sense of humor. He likes to rile people up, just to get some kind of reaction. He knows just what buttons to push; I wouldn't want him saying something to you about me, or vice versa, just for the sake of a moment's amusement. He's... malicious sometimes, when he doesn't mean to be. Even to me." She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts.

"I guess what it boils down to is that I didn't want you to get hurt, and I was selfish because I didn't want to have to choose just one of you. Like it or not, I love the both of you."

Harry didn't reply, so Lily left him to his thoughts. A few minutes later, a butterfly burst in Harry's mussed hair. He began to laugh, and Lily knew that everything would work out.

* * *

It was a Friday, the sixteenth of August. The teachers at Hogwarts were due back the following Monday to prepare for the students' arrival, and to settle in to the old castle once again. Lily and Severus were in a room that the tenacious redhead had cornered him in after an Order meeting. Dust motes floated about, gilded as they were suspended in shafts of sunlight coming in the small, round window. Lily looked her uncle directly in the eye, and tried to mentally tell him how serious she was. 

"I want to come to Hogwarts with you next week."

Severus stared blankly at his niece. She stood before him with a resolved look on her face, as if she was daring him to contradict her. She held his gaze unblinkingly.

"I want to go to Hogwarts, and I want to help with this war against Voldemort. I'm apparently supremely powerful, and so you can't _really_ do much to stop me, but I would like your support and approval." She managed the carefully prepared speech without a hitch, and steeled herself for his arguments. She would not give in.

"Fine," he replied. He smirked in satisfaction when she started in surprise, losing her carefully blank façade. "I trust your judgment; you are, after all, of age." Lily's face broke into a smile, and he was soon confronted with an armful of one exuberantly grateful family member.

"Yes, yes, yes. You're welcome," he said dryly.

* * *

Lily just could not keep the foolish grin off of her face. September first found the exited girl aboard the stationary Hogwarts Express, waiting anxiously for the students to arrive. She sat in a compartment in the middle of the train, chosen so that she could see the entirety of Platform Nine and Three Quarters from her window. Her leg wouldn't stop bouncing, and she found herself fidgeting constantly. Said ball of excitement thought back over her two week stay at the castle. 

She had arrived in Hogsmeade with her uncle, and had made the long trek to the castle with the same stupid grin her face was sporting now. It had been late, as Lily had spent all day imagining her clothing, back in her apartment in upstate New York, and wishing it into her newly conjured (red and silver, for both of her boy's) trunk. Spook had received the same treatment, and had _not_ been happy about it. At all.She had also enlisted the help of Ron, Hermione, and Ginny to get Harry away from his room for long enough to poof away Dudley's old clothes and replace them with some new, less hideous clothing. It wasn't until later that she had realized that she could have just wished that they change, instead of going through his trunk and physically touching everything to do it. She had felt rather silly about that.

As she had come around the bend of the path and Hogwarts finally came in sight, her bag had fallen out of limp fingers. Magnificent stone towers reached up into the sky, as tall as if they were trying to touch the stars. Windows lit by the flickering light of candles from within gave the impression that the castle was encrusted with thousands of gems. The Forbidden Forest loomed over the grounds ominously, but the giant squid waving his tentacles at Severus and herself had ruined the dark atmosphere with its absurdity.

After they had mounted the huge stone steps and entered the building proper, they were swarmed over by House Elves. Dozens of the things came rushing over to escort them to their quarters. On the way, they offered to change anything about her rooms that she didn't like, 'anything at all, Miss Lily-ma'am'.

The rooms were wonderful, and she had told the adorable things that her rooms were perfect the way they were. They were hidden behind a tapestry depicting a field of flowers. The largest, center most flower (which just happened to be a lily) opened up to reveal a little fairy that politely, albeit a bit squeakily, asked her to choose a password. Lily chose Fairyflowers, a silly little thing just to get the cute fairy to blush.

Lily's attention snapped back to the present as she realized that many students were now on the platform. Her giddy smile morphed into a mischievous one as she looked around for Harry's mop of untidy black hair or Draco's platinum blonde locks. She had visited Draco the previous night, and knew that the students (and teachers!) of Hogwarts were in for a big surprise when it came to the Draco who wasn't ruled by Lucius the Satanic Tyrant.

On that note, the rebellious blonde was in for a surprise too - she hadn't told him she would be at Hogwarts this year, or of her familial relationship to his Head of House.

'_This is bound to be fun..._' A mischievous smile spread across her mouth.

* * *

The Hogwarts Express hurtled down the track, past trees, ponds, and tall grass. It all passed the window in an unnoticed blue and green blur. 

Harry, along with Hermione, Ron, and Ginny, had found Lily and Spook in their compartment and were now listening to her talk about her gorgeous rooms at Hogwarts. Hermione was looking envious, as Lily had a large bookcase of books deemed too torn up to be in the Library, but which were still perfectly legible. Lily assured her that she was welcome to use them whenever she liked. Hermione beamed.

The lady with the food trolley had been by already, and the four youngest in the compartment had introduced Lily to all the different kinds of Wizarding candy available on the train. Harry playfully threw a Chocolate Frog wrapper at Ginny when the door to the compartment was opened by none other than Neville Longbottom. He was panting as if he had been running.

"Have you seen Malfoy!" he exclaimed. "He's..." They found out exactly what he was moments later, as the door slid open again and the slim figure of Draco Malfoy began to walk inside the crowded space.

He stopped abruptly in the doorway. His jaw dropped as his silver eyes met Lily's, and she was terribly amused to see a tongue piercing glinting at her from within his mouth. Harry and the others were apparently struck speechless as well, for a good reason.

Spoiled, petty Draco Malfoy... looked like a gothic muggle.

A _hot_ gothic muggle.

He had on baggy black pants that half-covered a pair of scuffed black boots with green laces, and a form-fitting green t-shirt. There were various chains connected to his pants, and he had on a black choker with silver spikes. His hair had been cut over the summer, and his hair was left un-gelled. His platinum blonde bangs hung into his eyes, which would give a sexy look to his brooding expression, were he not in the middle of gaping. Black eyeliner topped the look off, bringing attention to the extraordinary color of his eyes - a gray that looked somehow metallic, so that his eyes were like molten silver.

Draco recovered first. He controlled his expression, and looked as calm as if he had not just been looking as if someone hit him in the back of the head with a board.

"Who's the new Potter fan?" he asked coolly.

"Dray, they already know about us," Lily chirped. A huge grin spread across her face as she saw the hit-by-a-board face make a reappearance momentarily. He grinned back at her evilly, smoothly stealing Spook's spot on the seat next to her and depositing the kitten in Ginny's lap.Lily knew that look. He slipped an arm around her shoulders and leered at her.

"In that case... do you want a quickie in the lavatory now or later?"


	6. Of Innuendo and Feasts

**Chapter Six: Of Innuendo and Feasts**

"Can you guys not do that!" Lily demanded. She then proceeded to describe exactly how stupid they were, sounding remarkably Snape-ish. Harry just glared at Draco from midair, hung mid-leap by Lily after he had tried to assault the blonde. Ron was similarly positioned, with his arms outstretched, ready to wring his enemy's neck. Draco had the 'hey-I-got-whapped' expression for another amusing moment; Lily supposed it was due to her sudden ability to do magic. Ginny, meanwhile, was snickering madly, and Hermione was hiding a smile. Draco saw the two female Gryffindors' expressions, and grinned wickedly at the youngest Weasley to regain his somewhat dubious composure. Lily continued with her verbal abuse of Ron and Harry and occasionally Draco, noting the exchange in her peripheral vision. "Must you physically hurt somebody? He was joking, for Pete's sake!" she concluded. The redhead glared at them and gently released them from her magic. "Do it again, and I'll do something really evil to you."

Harry looked at her searchingly for a moment, before breaking into a surprising grin. "Well, I suppose it was rather funny," he said dryly. Ron looked at his friend like he had lost his marbles, and then shook his head. He knew when he was outnumbered.

"Yes, well," Lily said. She smiled at him reassuringly. She got an answering smile, and looked Draco up and down quickly. "Yup, I was right. You would make a good American, you know."

"I'm fine being British. American girls go wild over the accent, after all," he replied, casually sprawling out on the seat next to Ginny and slinging an arm around her shoulders. "So who must one murder to give a muggle magic?" he asked. "And what's with the... somewhat less than stellar company?

"What's with the new clothes? Oh, and how's your father's stay in Azkaban so far?" retorted Harry. Draco raised an eyebrow at him.

"Are you trying to pump me for information, or are you simply rude, Potter?" the blonde wizard asked. Harry stared back at him impassively.

"What else would he want to pump you for, Malfoy?" Ginny asked, a naughty little smirk on her face. Ron spluttered. Draco just laughed, a deep, genuine sound Lily loved hearing, especially because she heard it so rarely. Hermione laughed as well, and Lily almost fell out of her seat giggling at Harry's version of the 'I-got-whapped' look. The rest of the trip was spent with Lily filling Draco in on her newfound magical prowess, and Draco and Ginny's double-entendres.

* * *

The platform in Hogsmeade was chaotic, as per usual. Somehow Draco, Harry, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Lily managed to stay together despite the tumultuous crowd. The five Hogwarts students crammed themselves into the four-person carriage together (Ginny sitting on Draco's lap with a teasing smile, to Ron's undying horror), and Lily stepped up on the edge of the doorway to lean in. 

"I'll see you guys at the feast!" Lily said cheerily. She hopped down, shut the door, and poofed away in a shower of golden sparkles.

* * *

_'Who would've thought there were so many kids here?'_ Lily thought to herself, watching slightly nervously as more and more black-robed students poured into the Great Hall. Many could be seen pointing at her and whispering to each other. Her uncle sat next to her, watching her as she became more and more nervous as the tables filled. 

"Most of them don't bite, you realize?" he said dryly. Lily giggled sheepishly, and sat back in her enormously comfortable chair. He smirked at her in wry amusement.

"I know. I just don't like being whispered about. What if they think I'm just some 'bloody American chit'?" she asked, mimicking a British accent. He smiled slightly at her, patting her hand reassuringly. Lily laughed at the surprised (and in some cases, frightened) looks this relatively friendly manner garnered from the students. The deluge of teenagers eventually stopped, and everyone was seated.

"Welcome, students, to another year at Hogwarts!" Dumbledore announced. The students quieted immediately, their faces turning up toward the head table. "A few announcements before the feast: first years, please note that the Forbidden Forest is, quite obviously, forbidden. Also, I would like to introduce our new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Professor William Maclay, and our new Assistant Professor, Ms. Lilith Anderson." There was a spattering of applause after the announcement, and some rather loud cheers from Draco when Lily's name was announced. Lily leaned forward to peer down the table at Professor Maclay.

Maclay seemed to be in his thirties, maybe 32 or 34. He was rather handsome, with chiseled features and hair the color of mahogany. It was rather longer than Lily was used to, reaching down to his shoulder blades in its neat ponytail. He had a daydreamer's blue eyes beneath long black lashes, and strong hands with calloused fingers. For all of his good qualities, Lily sensed something slightly off about him... something about the way he held himself, she thought. It hit her as he began serving himself from the platters in front of him: he moved like an animal. He possessed that odd androgynousgrace that was epitomized in felines. He moved like a panther... like a predator.

Lily resolved to keep a close eye on the new professor, and went back to dinner. She tried her best to ignore the wicked amusement in Snape's black eyes at her long study of the handsome man.

* * *

A/N: Revised June 22, 2005.


	7. Captivating

**Chapter Seven: Captivating**

"How many of you are Muggleborn in this class?" Maclay asked.

Lily watched him lean idly against his desk in front of his classroom. She uncrossed her legs and leaned forward, interested in where he was going with his lecture. She looked across the room, surveying the uplifted hands from her seat in the very back of the classroom. The students were the same ones she had been following about all day: sixth year Gryffindors and Slytherins. Dumbledore had taken his house unity project to a whole new level, pushing the Gryffindors and Slytherins together in as many classes as feasible. So far, they had had Potions, Transfiguration, and Care of Magical Creatures together. Now, so late in the afternoon, everyone's nerves were a bit frazzled; Harry and Draco had reluctantly called a truce in order to survive their classes.

Lily watched the tense class as hands went up. Hermione had her hand up proudly, along with Dean Thomas and Lavender Brown.

"Alright, hands down. How many of you are half-bloods?" Maclay asked, his face carefully blank. Harry raised his hand, along with Seamus and an arrogant-looking Slytherin girl. Maclay nodded.

"Hands down. Now, how many purebloods?" he asked. Neville and Ron, Draco and all the other male Slytherins, Parvati Patil, and the other three Slytherin girls - Pansy Parkinson, Millicent Bullstrode, and Tracey Davis - all raised a hand.

"Hands down. Now, you see that there are a handful of Muggleborns and Half-bloods, and a fair few of Purebloods in your class. Which one of you is top of your year?" he asked. A skinny, buck-toothed boy by Draco Lily thought was named Nott sneered in Hermione's direction. Hermione blushed as Ron spoke out.

"That'd be Hermione, Professor. She has been since first year," the red-head said, proudly clapping her on the back. Her blush darkened, and Harry smiled at her.

"She's brilliant," Harry said, laughter in his voice at Hermione's modesty.

"Hmm..." said Maclay, "A Muggleborn. But aren't Muggleborns supposed to be unfit to have magic? Aren't they 'dirty'? That's what my pureblooded mother would have me believe," he said candidly. He shook his head as he heard Nott muttering to Draco. He stalked across the room to halt just in front of the desk Nott and Draco shared. "Do you agree with my mother, Mr. Nott?" The sandy-haired Slytherin nodded, sneering contemptuously.

"So you would say that half-bloods, by nature, being nearly Muggleborn themselves, are similar?" Nott nodded again, emboldened by Maclay's lack of reproach. The brunette professor strolled back to his desk in silence. Lily scrutinized his facial expression; it betrayed no emotion at all.

"Lord Voldemort was born Tom Marvolo Riddle," Maclay said, his back to the class. "His father was Tom Riddle." He turned, his blue eyes sweeping across the room but managing to catch everyone's gaze. "A muggle."

The class was dead silent. The click of his bootheels on his dragon-hide boots filled the room as he walked around his desk to sit in it.

"I want two feet of parchment by our next lesson on your heritage - write about your relatives, your family tree, whatever - and what it means to you. I want to know how it affects your every-day life.

"You are dismissed."

* * *

The entire school was buzzing like a beehive. Lily soon heard that Maclay's first few classes had been just as eventful as the one she had attended with Harry. For the first time, the entirety of Hogwarts's population had the same assignment for homework, years one through seventh. Lily chewed her way though lunch without tasting a bite of it, while staring at a pensive Harry. 

"I wonder what he's thinking about," she said idly. Her uncle raised an ironic eyebrow.

"Do you think I would know better than you?" he asked dryly.

"No," Lily replied distractedly. "I was just thinking out loud."

"Do that often, do you?" he asked. Lily murmured something vague at him and he took the hint- she wasn't really paying attention to anything external. They returned to their meal, each wrapped in his or her own thoughts.

* * *

Across the castle, a thick panel in the stone wall swung slowly outward to release its centuries-old captive. Coppery scales glittered in the torchlight as the captive made its way slowly out of its room, stiff on joints that hadn't been used in ages. The animal stretched its leathery wings and made its way toward its promised target. 

In the Great Hall, Lily stood. With a simple gesture, Draco was lifted from his seat at the end of the Slytherin table into the air.

"Ready yourself for your birthright, Draconis Marek Malfoy, for she approaches."

Screams broke out in the Great Hall as the doors swung open and the creature stepped inside.

* * *

A/N: Revised June 22, 2005. 


	8. New Beginnings

A/N: Revised June 22, 2005.

**Chapter Eight: Of New Beginnings**

Sunlight shone gently through a window into a wide stone corridor, illuminating an unusual scene and alighting upon a massive egg. The gentle rays brought out the metallic highlights in its mottled shell, and the egg shined bronze, golden, and reddish. An elegant man dark of hair and eye, crouched before the magnificent egg, was surrounded by piles of fluffy material. He intently studied its mottled expanse. The man carefully set his large hands with their long, thin fingers upon the beautiful surface to gently caress the egg. It didn't quite reach his eye line when he crouched, showing itself to be rather small for its species, but it was sure to be more than sufficient for its intended purpose. Quick footsteps sounded on the flagstones around the corner and he drew his hands away. He simply nodded in greeting, pulling his wand out of his sleeve and flicking it at the nearest pile of fluff.

The footsteps belonged to a very petite woman in a comfortable cotton dress in her favorite color: yellow. She had a curling mass of auburn hair tumbling to her mid-back tucked behind one of her ears along with her white willow wand. When she saw what the man was doing, her hands came up to rest on her hips impertinently.

"Salazar, I must say that I really do not approve," said the redhead as she favored the thin man with a reproachful glare. The dark haired man turned to give her look. His mouth, framed by a neatly trimmed goatee, curled into a smirk.

"Helga, I must say that I really do not give a damn," he replied. "I will do what I must to provide for my heir, even if you do think the entire situation a mistake." He turned back to his task, using his wand to direct the thick downy material into its correct shape around the huge egg. Ignoring the woman's caustic mutterings with the ease of long habit, he focused all of his attention on the intricate nest. He had to make it last for nearly two hundred years before the creature within would mature enough to hatch, after all, so it had to be durable as well as supportive. His mind raced over his plans as he continued with his labor, going over all he had done and the tasks he had yet to complete. He had taken great pains in preparing a special suite of rooms for it, all modeled after areas he particularly liked in the Black Forest out on the grounds. He had woven the framework for the complex spellwork around the doorway into the suite, and set up the time-release spell for various toys and other entertainments to appear once the egg hatched. It seemed the only thing he needed to do was set up the Gringotts account to buy the creature its food and speak to Hogwarts about bringing the food into the room and watching after it.

Salazar vaguely noted the second set of footsteps coming around the corner as he firmly concentrated on his task. This new set belonged to a man, the same height as Salazar but more solidly built. Broad shoulders and well-muscled arms filled out a chocolate brown shirt that was tucked into a pair of tan breeches. The bootheels of his well-worn leather boots clicked on the flagstones as he made his way over to the pair with a cheerful look on his handsome face. Absently swiping a shock of sandy blond hair out of one eye, he appraised the egg and Salazar's efforts with a smile.

"Wonderful, Salazar. I take it Helga's been haranguing you about our favorite wanderers?" he said, his voice deep and rumbling in his amusement.

"Quite, Godric. Can't you control your own wife? You'd think I was committing a terrible crime against humanity, the way she harps on," the dark man replied. "I am simply doing my part to move history along in the correct direction." Salazar stood, dusting his hands off on his trousers. "I believe the egg is ready. I'm off to Gringotts, then," he said. He deftly levitated the egg into its cavernous rooms and sealed the wall shut. With a nod to his companions, he strode away.

"Godric, you are a bad husband," Helga said, swatting his arm. He looked down at her with a broad smile.

"You love me anyway," he reminded her. She released a long-suffering sigh.

"I do. I can't fathom why, but I do," she said. "Let's go see what the House Elves have prepared for lunch." Godric gave her a flamboyant bow and offered his arm.

"My lady," he said. She swatted at him again, and they walked to lunch arm-in-arm.

Chaos reigned in the Great Hall. The majority of the students had fled to the furthest point from the doors they could get, behind the head table. Some of the seventh years had decided to make a stand, lined up with wands pointed at the doors, stationed right in front of the head table. Harry had immediately run toward Lily, followed by Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. She was standing, staring with glazed eyes at what had just entered.

For in the doorway to the Entrance Hall, there stood a copper-colored dragonet the size of a small pony.

Lily made an abrupt gesture, and the Hall fell silent. The hissing of the dragonet and the scratching of its claws on the stone floor filled the room. Its head wove back and forth on its long, sinuous neck as it searched the crowds for something, finally coming to rest on Draco. He was standing halfway between the Slytherin table and the great doors, staring at the dragonet as if entranced. When its sight came to rest upon the blonde, the coppery dragonet tripped over its own feet in its haste to get to him. Draco was in just as big of a hurry. He made it to the beautiful animal within seconds and threw his arms around its neck as if it was his last lifeline. An pregnant silence grew as everyone stared at the pair in disbelief. Eventually, Draco turned, his face radiant.

"She says her name's Calida!" He turned back to her, holding her head in his hands and staring into her eyes. Lily's eyes cleared and she collapsed, and with her, the spell she held over the students and faculty. Dumbledore stood and took charge.

Soon, Snape was on his way to the dungeons with Lily in his arms. Harry walked alongside him, anxiously peering at Lily. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny walked behind exchanging worried looks. Draco and Calida followed a few paces behind, Draco walking with his hand on Calida's shoulder.

They reached a section of the damp stone wall that slid aside when Snape awkwardly prodded itwith his wand. They all went inside, the doorway just wide enough for Calida to enter. Snape laid Lily on a couch in front of the fireplace and disappeared into another room. The others silentlyclaimed seats around her and on the chairs around the room. Calida settled in on the floor in front of the door, snaking her neck out to place it on Draco's lap where he sat in an armchair. Snape returned, opening a vile of some herb mixture and waving it beneath Lily's nose.

Lily coughed, and sat up. Snape corked the vile and crossed his arms.

"Is there anything you'd like to explain?" he asked darkly.

Lily gave him a sheepish look and opened her mouth to explain.

A/N: Hope you liked it. I picked the names in this chapter and the lastvery carefully... Draco's middle name (according to me, anyway) Marek means 'warring' in Latin. Calida means 'fiery', and her nickname (which hasn't come up yet, but will) Lida means 'sparkles'. Appropriate for their temperments and maybe just a hint of foreshadowing...


End file.
